A lot of the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place in the last weeks of the legislative session.
- MGM will be opening a $1 billion dollar casino in Springfield in the coming months
- there are two competing casino pieces of legislation floating through the Capitol Building, one for a casino in East Windsor and one for a casino in the Bridgeport area
- if the casino in East Windsor opens, it would dramatically hurt the MGM $1 Billion Springfield casino
MGM has a plan to save the Springfield casino, stop the East Windsor casino, purchase/renovate the XL Center, and help build a casino in the Bridgeport area that would bring more NYC Casino users revenue to the state of Connecticut and help take the struggling XL Center off the hands of the state and mean that state bonding would not be needed.
MGM's plan:
If the State of Connecticut strikes down the East Windsor Casino legislation (Bill 957), and approves the Bridgeport casino legislation (Bill 7319), then MGM would bankroll money to the Schaghticoke Tribe in Bridgeport for construction of a new casino and MGM would purchase the XL Center and make a huge proposition to the Islanders to relocate to Hartford, which explains why in the past few days the Schaghticoke Tribe made an appearance in Hartford along with Islanders personnel, and Governor Malloy's longtime advisor Roy Ochiogroso is now representing MGM and that Mayor Ganim also wants to see the casino built in Bridgeport.

East Hartford's mayor is urging state lawmakers to take another look at a rejected proposal for a Hartford-area gambling venue in East Hartford.
Leclerc said the casino would be a major economic development driver for East Hartford; but it also could form the cornerstone of a regional approach to economic development. An East Hartford casino could work to attract more visitors to Hartford and the region, Leclerc said.
Visitors could pair stops at a casino in East Hartford with events at Hartford venues such as the XL Center and the convention center, Leclerc said.
On Wednesday, the Senate overwhelming backed MMCT and East Windsor. But leaders of the House said later in the day that the Senate's bill would not p***** in the House as currently written and said some of its members favored open competition.
In addition, the Native American Schaghticoke Tribal Nation in Kent has threatened to sue if MMCT gets the exclusive right to expand.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced Wednesday that he selected the Oak View Group to redevelop KeyArena.
The group, led by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, will spearhead a $600 million remodel of the facility on the Seattle Center campus. They are also bringing two prospective NHL owners to the arena.
A source close to the project says Leiweke will announce that his Seattle effort will be joined by Boston Celtics Minority Owner David Bonderman, a billionaire and University of Washington grad, and Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood action movie mogul, who most recently pioneered the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
Both Bonderman and Bruckheimer are expected to announce soon their intention to attract an NHL expansion franchise to be an anchor tenant in the facility, according to a source close to the project.
When Murray makes the announcement Wednesday, Leiweke and Azoff are expected to be by his side. At least two NHL leaders are expected to be in attendance, including Vancouver Canucks Chairman Francesco Aquilini and Florida Panthers Chairman Peter Luukko, who is one of Leiweke’s current partners in the Oak View Group.

Coyotes Arena Season: Where do they go from here?
May 11, 2017
There’s an all too familiar feeling of unease lurking in the back of the mind for many Coyotes fans this off-season, or as it has come to be known, arena season. The team has extended their lease with Gila River Arena for the 2017-2018 season but after that, there are many questions to be answered.
Are the Coyotes leaving Arizona?
According to statements by the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and the majority owner of the Coyotes, Andrew Barroway: not until all other options are explored. Both have publicly stated that they would prefer to keep the team in Arizona, as long as it’s not in Glendale. However, neither said that the team would stay in Arizona no matter what; so if a viable arena deal in the East Valley can’t be found, then relocation isn’t off the table either.

Something big is happening in Hartford, Governor visiting XL Center, new forum, East Hartford mayor working on getting casino in East Hartford to support XL Center, now Yard Goats unveiling Whalers jerseys.... and even the Boston media (which hated us back in the 1980s) are even covering it.
The Hartford Yard Goats are looking to win over some local fans with a light dose of nostalgia.
In their first season playing in Hartford, the Colorado Rockies Double-A affiliate (formerly the New Britain Rock Cats) plan to host a Whalers Alumni Weekend at their new downtown stadium. And on Thursday, the team revealed the uniforms they’ll be wearing.
In a Facebook Live announcement, a team representative said the Yard Goats will auction off the jerseys following the July 14-16 weekend, which includes a charity luncheon, a slate of former Whalers players in attendance at the July 15 game, and postgame fireworks.

USA Today - June 7: Mayor Ed Murray told the Seattle Times that the renovations "will lead to the NHL sooner than the NBA. I believe the NBA has been pretty clear that their owners have a pretty good TV contract that, financially, they don’t want to break up at this point. I do think the NHL will be here sooner than the NBA. But I think both of them will be here. I think this is the arena that will get us here.” With the recent NHL expansion, the Western Conference will have an odd number of teams, so this move could position Seattle to be in the running for expansion. The city would love to get an NBA franchise after losing the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.

Bottom line of what happened today in Seattle:
1- Hansen had almost five years to put a new arena in South Downtown Seattle for the Sonics to come back, Hansen was never able to make it happen
2- The Mayor decides not to give the Renovation project to Hansen, instead gives it to Oak View
3- Oak View shows up with Jerry Bruckheimer (TV/Movie legend and net worth of $800 million) and investment mogul David Bonderman (a minority owner of the Boston Celtics and Bonderman has a net worth of $2 Billion)
Seattle came out today and made it official, the KeyArena renovation will be done in a few years and they already have an NHL Ownership group lined up which can easily afford to purchase an NHL team and they have other owners lined up for an NBA team and they have already lined up Pearl Jam to play the first concerns in the building and they have already lined up LiveNation to have an ownership interest in the arena and they have already been in talks with the NHL commission as recently as days ago and Jerry Bruckheimer is good friends with NHL commissioner Bettman.

The Seattle group trying to bring an NHL expansion team — and hope**lly another NBA team — to the city has added movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer as a partner.
Bruckheimer, an acquaintance of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, has been looking for years to become an NHL team owner.
The Los Angeles resident considered buying the Penguins in 2006 before Mario Lemieux purchased the team. In 2010, he was part of a group bidding to bring an NHL expansion team to Las Vegas. The group dropped its bid that same year.
The Oak View Group hopes to renovate KeyArena, which opened in 1962, for both an NHL and NBA team.
OVG has also added billionaire investment banker David Bonderman, a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.
“These are the real deal,” OVG chairman Tim Leiweke told the Seattle Times. “And they will join us and help us in pursuing an NHL and an NBA franchise.”
The NHL just added an expansion franchise in Las Vegas last year, and will have an uneven number of teams (31) when the Golden Knights begin play next season. An NHL franchise would be more likely in the near **ture than an NBA team, as that league is several years away from another expansion.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray told the Seattle Times Wednesday that having Bruckheimer and Bonderman join OVG, “will lead to the NHL sooner than the NBA.

Mayor just said now that he consulted the NHL Commissioner as recently as days ago about the selection of Oak View Group, instead of Chris Hansen.
Tim just mentioned that Seattle has spoken to the NHL a long recently, and Tim doubled down now that the NHL will be in Seattle before the NBA comes.

The Mayor just sat down now with Tim, the Mayor and Tim just signed the paperwork and shook hands, the $600 million renovation is going forward, Live Nation will have ownership in the building, MSG and Dolan are involved and Seattle will have a voice at the NHL Board of Governors, that is why Seattle is confident the NHL will arrive in Seattle before the NBA returns.

Lenny Wilkens (NBA Legend) now just took the podium, said this is the best attempt at bringing back the Supersonics, and how KeyArena will be a 1st cl***** world arena.
Noted how 3 NHL Team Ownership groups are on hand in Seattle today for the Mayor's arena announcement today.
With 3 NHL team ownership groups (Canucks, Bruins, Panthers) on hand, Seattle is saying they will most likely have the NHL in Seattle before their NBA Sonics return.

Irving just said Pearl Jam will be the first concert act to play the new KeyArena after the renovation is over with.
LiveNation just took the podium outside KeyArena, said only 25 concerts were played in Seattle last year while 90 concerts took place at MSG in NYC, and LiveNation just said they are making a rare move and taking an equity stake in Key Arena and will own a part of the arena.

Okay, Mayor Murray is back at the podium now, and handed the podium over to Irving. Irving mentioned how Pearl Jam also is pushing for the Key Arena to be renovated such as the LA Forum. Irving mentioned MSG Arena as a model for Key Arena, installation of bunker suites without gl*****, now Irving mentioned how he wants a hockey team in Key Arena.

Jerry Bruckheimer (TV icon) is sitting in the front row, he is pushing for an NHL team with MSG in Seattle.
WOW WOW WOW, Tim just said he thinks Seattle will get an NHL team first, before the NBA comes back, wow.

Tim just mentioned Populus and Icon, he said that the economics in Seattle work for hockey.
Wow, now Tim just said it will be "top of the league" for NHL in economics and revenue streams.
Tim now just mentioned that their food providers, own a team, and he is proud to have MSG also, who sit on the Board of Governors for the NHL, Barry Watkins and Jim Dolan mentioned, with Dolan being behind it.

Okay, Tim Leiweke is at the podium now, talking about his relationship with Chris. Tim mentioned the growth of Pro Soccer up there and how they worked on it, the Sounders.
Tim just mentioned other plans for the Mariners.
Tim now just mentioned the Seattle Storm's bright **ture in the new KeyArena.
Tim just mentioned how they want the NBA returned to Seattle.

Word is spreading that that Governor Malloy will be visiting the XL Center today, in the afternoon hours, some are saying that it is to check on arena maintenance updates being made, others are saying that architects and perhaps NHL officials might also be at the XL Center.
I don't believe that he is visiting the XL Center to see the maintenance being done, since the Governor visited the XL Center only a few weeks ago, and with the recent college graduations that were held at the XL Center during the past 2 weeks, I know that there is no heavy equipment or renovations being made as of yet, so there is nothing out of the ordinary to see at this point.
Speculation is really growing right now as to what the Governor's visit to the XL Center today is really about. I will keep you posted as the day progresses to see/hear what is happening at the XL Center.

Any truth to the rumor of there being a meeting/dinner back at the Governor's Mansion yesterday between the Governor, CRDA reps, SCI, NHL officials, casino reps, Uconn President/officials, and reps from Springfield high-speed rail??

Starting with Max, I thought the scolding about the yawn was a bit undeserved, I thought the questions from Susan (channel 3) were fair. One of the best points made was that a 2nd concourse would make the facility a safer place for a large amount of people to be.
On the topic of Susan, she goes to the same gym as the wolf pack players do, she is at Champions in Cromwell working out routinely, she might have a water retention health issue as noted by her arms and skin folds, so exercise is important to her, I have always found her to be professional.

I heard Robert Saint say at one point, and I never heard this before, is that code requires so many bathrooms for the capacity, if the capacity is to be increased by one-thousand to two-thousand people, a 10% or so attendance increase, then there needs to be a 50% increase in the amount of bathrooms at the arena, because as capacity standards are now, the arena is already lacking a large number of bathrooms.
Also, CCSU might be exploring using the XL Center for some men's basketball games in upcoming seasons, they have been using it as a graduation venue for the past few years, and with the busway now almost reaching the XL Center's doors since the buses do leave the dedicated busway and p***** by the XL's front doors, it makes sense for them to explore more use of the arena.